Author: Karen Harper
Publisher: MIRA
Pages: 384
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Format: Hardback, Paperback, Kindle
Haunted by the past…
Cold Creek is a place with a dark history, especially for
the Lockwoods. Now adults, the three Lockwood sisters are still recovering from
the events that led to the destruction of their family when they were children.
Determined to move forward, Tess and Kate are making fresh starts, ready to put
bad—even deadly—memories to rest and settle happily in the small but booming
town. And they're hoping their older sister, Charlene, can do the same.
Char is back in town seeking comfort as she figures out
her next move. A social worker used to difficult situations, she soon runs
afoul of some locals who think she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.
She's certain something sinister is being covered up, and when she witnesses
Matt Rowan being run off the road, she knows she's right.
Working together, Matt and Char figure uncovering the
truth will be dangerous, but living in Cold Creek won't be safe for any of them
until its secrets are revealed.
Book Excerpt:
Excerpt # 1
As she made the next sharp
turn, Char gasped. A white truck with Lake Azure, Inc. painted on its side was
tipped nearly off the cliff, right where the school bus stopped for the kids
who lived above. She’d heard a horn honk long and loud a few minutes earlier.
Maybe the truck missed the last turn and spun out, since its rear, not its
front, was dangling over the edge, propped up by two trees. No other vehicle
was nearby to help.
She put her emergency
blinkers on and pulled as close to the cliff face as she could. She jumped down
from her truck and ran across the road toward the truck. A man was inside!
“What should I do?” she
shouted, her voice shrill. It sounded like a stupid question. She had to get
the man out of his truck before it crashed over the edge.
The bitter, strong wind
ripped at her hair and jacket. What if a blast of air tipped him off? Or maybe
even if he moved. She’d swear the two tree trunks that held his truck were
shaking as hard as she was.
She could hear the engine
was still running. The driver opened an automatic window.
“A guy in a truck shoved me
off,” he shouted. “Meant to. I don’t have any traction. I’m afraid if I shift
my weight or open a door to jump out, I’ll send it over.”
The fact someone had done
this on purpose stunned her. What was going on? If her cell phone worked up
here, she’d call her brother-in-law, the county sheriff, for help, but she was
on her own. It wouldn’t help to go back up for help from Elinor and Penny.
“Don’t move until I get
something you can hang on to if the truck goes. I have some jump ropes I can
tie together. Those trees are shaky.”
“I’m shaky. Hurry!”
She ran to her truck and
knotted together the three jump ropes she had, tying square knots because she
knew they would hold. But she’d never be able to balance the man’s weight if
the truck went over the edge.
“I’ve got ropes here, but
I’ll have to tie the end to a tree. I don’t dare drive close enough to you to
tie it to my truck. It would never stretch that far.”
She knotted it around the
trunk of a pine tree that looked sturdy enough, though that almost took the
length of one rope. This wasn’t going to work.
A grinding sound, then a
crunch reverberated as the truck seemed to jerk once then settled closer to the
cliff edge.
“Now or never!” he shouted
and opened his door fast.
Excerpt # 2
Matt grabbed her—almost
tackled her—and rolled them off the low concrete single step into the wet
leaves. He pulled her around the corner of the cabin, where they huddled, kneeling
with her pressed between him and the outside wall.
“I—I can’t believe that,”
she whispered. “We could have—could have been hit.”
“And I’m the common
denominator. Either someone’s been following me, looking for another chance at
me, or someone’s staked out your place, knowing we’re together.”
They were whispering in each
other’s ears. “The headlights made us the perfect target,” she said. “If we
hadn’t stepped apart…the arrow came head high, not chest level.”
“Either way it could have
killed one or both of us.”
She was not only scared but
furious. Someone had ruined her new place, ruined this beautiful night.
“Stay here,” he said. “I’m
going to get to the car, turn it around so the headlights shine into the trees
where the arrow must have come from. It’s sticking in the wood at an upward
angle—like it was shot from the sky. Probably just arced up, then hit.”
“Should we call Gabe?”
“Not unless we spot someone.
My bet is we’ll find no one out there. And it’s late. Let’s give him a break
and call him in the morning. Tonight you can go down to stay in one of the
guest rooms at the lodge where—”
“It’s my first night here!
I’m not running, even if some stupid hunter or even worse wants to scare me
off.”
“Char, just for the night!”
“I’m not going to leave. I’m
going to get that arrow for evidence, tape up the hole and lock my doors.”
“Then I’m staying, too.”
“What?”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,
just in case.”
“And if it’s you the
shooter’s after? That could have been the second attempt on your life.”
Excerpt # 3
She started to get out until
she saw the driver of the truck was really covered up for the weather. She
could see through his windshield that he wore a ski mask, leaving only his eyes
visible. He climbed down and started toward her truck, holding up his hands as
if to apologize.
Could this be the man who
nearly ran Matt off the cliff?
She turned the ignition back
on, put the truck in Reverse, yanked the steering wheel and tried to back up to
get some maneuvering room, but she was held tight by the tree, and her wheels
spun. She laid on her horn, but saw no other vehicle on the road.
The man went back to his
truck and returned, holding a metal carjack, the kind needed to change a flat
tire. He walked now with swift, strong strides. She knew he was going to use it
to smash her window. Was this guy desperate or crazy? They were on a public
road in broad daylight.
She waited until he came
close and raised the car jack. He hit the glass of the driver’s-side window,
which only cracked on the first blow. She had to do the unexpected and fast,
run for help. She’d seen a car parked at her childhood home if she could make
it there. She dug in her big purse for her phone. Too much in here—couldn’t
feel it. She had to go now or he’d have her!
In an instant, she unlocked
her doors, tried to grab her heavy purse, but he reached for it, too, yanked it
and tipped her toward him. She slid away from the steering wheel and clambered
out the other side, forced to leave the purse, the phone. She had no illusions
he just wanted the purse. She slipped to her knees in the ice-crusted snow,
then clawed her way up and raced toward the trees.
About the Author
A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Karen Harper is a former college English instructor (The Ohio State University) and high school literature and writing teacher. A lifelong Ohioan, Karen and her husband Don divide their time between the midwest and the southeast, both locations she has used in her books. Besides her American settings, Karen loves the British Isles, where her Scottish and English roots run deep, and where she has set many of her historical Tudor-era mysteries and her historical novels about real and dynamic British women. Karen's books have been published in many foreign languages and she won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for 2005. Karen has given numerous talks to readers and writers across the county.
For More Information
- Visit Karen Harper’s website.
- Connect with Karen on Facebook.
- Find out more about Karen at Goodreads.
Giveaway!
Karen Harris
is giving away 10 sets of the Cold Creek Trilogy!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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